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Mr Pyne said they were cracked and had poor grip, with other clubs refusing to play there due to it being dangerously slippery.

He said they'd flooded because of poor drainage and the club withheld £6,000 in rent until the council, which had been contemplating whether to sell the land for development, agreed to the work in December.

He praised the current council, which has been in place since 2011, for being more “enthusiastic” about completing the work.

Mr Pyne added: “It shows the commitment of the council to actually do something for the sporting facilities in Witney.”

The town council’s leisure and recreation committee member Ben Woodruff said: “The fact the council has committed to resurfacing the courts is a step in the right direction.

“Hopefully we can build on that and if we can improve the sports facilities in the town it could be one of the council’s best achievements.”

The town council’s facilities manager Claire Swan said: “There’s been different policies with the sports ground.

“Until the council could decide whether it was selling the land or keeping it, they wouldn’t commission a massive amount of work, but now it wants the sports club to remain there.

“They agreed the work on the condition the club paid its rent up to date.”